


Alternamorphs 1: The Invasion

by lkc159



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Conflict, Original Character(s), POV Original Character, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24161212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lkc159/pseuds/lkc159
Summary: In the darkness of night, 5 human teenagers took a walk through an abandoned construction site. Their lives, and the fate of the world, will change forever. But know this, dear reader. This encounter will not go the way you expect it to. AU. OC. RP. Collabfic. KA's Animorphs may not exist. The story WILL break away from the stations of canon.
Kudos: 1





	1. The Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Casey is my OC for an Animorphs roleplay over on /r/Animorphs. Since the roleplay is technically fanfiction, I thought I might as well post it here and maybe get some feedback on my writing too :)
> 
> (Mistrali is also in this RP, but on the other side. Just thought I'd give a shoutout!)
> 
> Casey's Character bio is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Animorphs/comments/fu2131/alternamorphs_signup_and_discussion/fmbs7qp/
> 
> Because this is an RP, the story WILL break with the stations of canon - either by my own hand, or by the GM. That being said, I expect that certain things will still stay constant - e.g. races, technology, etc. Also, because this is an RP, I don't have the faintest clue how this will actually end. Casey might die, he might become a Controller, he might become a nothlit... You have been warned.
> 
> All main characters are aged 18 and up.
> 
> Some of the characters you see will belong to the other authors in this RP. They won't be mine - As of this moment, I only own Casey and his family.

My name is Casey.

Just Casey.

No last name.

Well… that’s not actually the truth. I do have a last name. You’re just not going to learn it. Because if you do, that means that either something’s gone horribly wrong, or the war is finally over and humanity has won. Most likely, it’s going to be the former.

So yeah, that’s all you’re getting from me.

I’m penning my thought down in this journal (of sorts) to help me keep my thoughts straight. And I guess, if something DOES go horribly wrong, at least the truth will be out there somewhere.

 _Whoa, hold up. What truth?_ you ask. _What war is humanity involved in?_

Well, strap in, because it’s going to be a LONG story. One that you might yourself wishing you never knew.

This is how it all began…

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on… come on…”

**BOOM!**

“DAMNIT!”

A badly-timed drift and an infuriating DAYTONA AI opponent had conspired to send my car careening into the wall on the final turn of the race. I watched despairingly, cursing my luck as the car flipped ungracefully in the air mere inches from victory.

I could only grumble as I eventually limped across the finish line in 4th. The all-too-familiar “GAME OVER” waltzed across the screen in its vermilion glory, loudly proclaiming my failure to conquer the advanced racetrack.

Stupid AI. Stupid wall.

Vacating the seat for the next sucker waiting in line, I wandered the arcade for a couple more minutes while looking at all the new machines. To be honest, I wasn’t feeling entirely at home at the arcade as the racing games were the only ones that could catch my attention. I would’ve rather been at home commanding my armies in grand battles of strategy; Heroes was one of my first purchases, and I couldn’t wait to help Lord Ironfist conquer Enroth. 

Unfortunately, my parents were having some of their friends over for dinner, and there was no way in hell I would be going back early to suffer through an evening of being pinched on the cheek and cooed at for being the youngest. I mean, I’m nineteen, for crying out loud, not nine! Though I guess Connor, my eldest brother, has it a little tougher – he’s already done with college, and dad and mum have started asking him to bring a nice girlfriend home. And when I say "asking", I actually mean "nagging".

(They also mentioned a matchmaker, but they were probably kidding about that… I think.)

Anyway, it was just about time for me to have dinner. The trip back to suburbia would take about half an hour, so if I timed it just right, I would reach home shortly after my parents saw off their guests. I slowly drifted towards the food court, wondering if I would be seeing any familiar faces from college there.


	2. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anna and Erik (and the 3rd as-yet-unnamed guy) are not mine - they are the characters or /u/Shiiang and /u/Mrmrspears respectively.

**“The mall will be closing in ten minutes.”**

***KCHKCHKCHKCHKCHK-SLAM***

The sound of retailers shutting up shop for the day reverberated through the air.

 _Wait_ , I thought to myself as I wolfed down what remained of my dinner. _I don’t remember the mall normally closing this early..._

Then again, I guess I wouldn’t really know what “early” or “normal” means in the context of the mall - it’s just not really a common hangout spot for me, you know? I don’t usually have much of a reason to stay there - I spend most of my evenings either on my computer, going out running, curled up in bed reading, or jumping on trampolines. (Some might call that last one a bit of a strange pastime, but you have no idea how liberating it feels to just soar through the air.)

Or maybe I’d just lost track of time. I tend to do that a lot. 

Yeah, that was probably it.

By now, you’ve probably gotten the impression that I’m kind of a loner. At the mall by myself, in the arcade by myself, eating dinner by myself… well, you wouldn’t be wrong. I’m somewhat introverted and don’t really have many friends, just a few close ones that I’d give my life for. I’m actually fine with that – I don’t care about that many people anyway – but it does get lonely sometimes.

Narrowly avoiding the few mall cops gently chivvying people along, I headed towards the exit. I stepped out of the sliding glass entrance and was greeted by a strong gust of wind to the face, accompanied by an ominous rumble. It was definitely going to rain tonight - and if I didn’t get to shelter quickly enough, I would be facing a long, wet, cold and lonely journey home on the bus. 

_Hey_ , you might ask. _If the mall’s that far away, why didn’t you drive? Surely you can, right?_

One of the downsides of having two older brothers (aside from the usual older sibling hand-me-downs) is that we tend to share many things. The car was one of those things, and Cedric (my second brother) was using it today. He was out at some college networking thing, so naturally he had first pick of whether to use the car or not. I brought up the topic of getting another car a year or two ago and got an earful for it. _“Why get another car?”_ Ma had asked. _“Just schedule around it with your brothers! Such a waste of money just to save 15 minutes… you could even plan your time better and take public transport instead; that’s so much cheaper! Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know!”_

Well, at least the bus stop wasn’t too far away. The feeder service in my neighbourhood didn’t stop right at the mall, so I still had some ground to cover, but I only needed to take a left on this street and a right at the second junction afterwards to get to where I needed to be. It would take me even less time if I were to cut across the abandoned construction site.

The abandoned construction site was something of an enigma within the city. I’m not even sure anymore what the council had originally planned to build there. Some sort of new mall, I think? Or was it one of those new, green eco-office buildings? What I do remember is that a couple of years ago, there was this groundbreaking ceremony and everything, with the mayor himself presiding over the event. However, shortly after they’d built the skeleton of the first two or three floors, the project just… stopped. Stopped, as in the moving equipment just left, and the construction workers never returned. The advertising hoardings were removed, and the site was cordoned off. It was a scandal and was the talk of the town for a month or two afterwards, but nobody ever found out what happened or why. There were some allegations of corruption floating around, but nothing ever came of any investigation - if there even was one. The mayor was quietly voted out in the next election, and the new administration had simply let the growing site wither into oblivion.

The sprawling grounds were clearly suffering from neglect. The chain-link fence surrounding it had rusted points sharp enough to threaten hapless trespassers with tetanus; the building foundations were a mixture of concrete, mud and algae-infused water; the once-shiny steel beams were now a soulless gray, and the whole structure had a miasma of dismal foreboding to it. In other words, it definitely seemed like a fantastic shortcut!

I glanced up as I felt the first drop of rain land on my nose. _Right_ , I thought. _Construction site it is_. I’d just have to move quickly enough to outrun any would-be assassins hidden in the dark. 

As I jogged through the dilapidated entrance, I saw a loose sheet of paper wafting across the floor. I snagged one as it went by, my curiosity piqued. I was able to read the name _Anna_ and yesterday’s date written across the top in smooth, cursive script. Squinting, I also recognized some familiar symbols - _hang on, didn’t I finish this course just last year?_

I found myself picking up several other pieces of homework for Anna along the way, marveling at how this poor girl’s assignments had found their way into this aging skeleton. After a few more seconds, I heard three distinct voices ahead - two gents and a young lady. _Well, I guess that’s Anna up ahead,_ I thought. I headed over, intentionally making as much noise as I possibly could so as not to startle them into attacking me. Once I was close enough to see them, I was surprised to find out I actually recognized one of the guys, Erik, that Anna (presumably) was with.

Now, Erik’s actually one of the few friends I do have (or do bother with having). He’s kinda shy, but friendly once you get to know him and nice to be around. We’ve been studying at the same college for about a year now, and because some of our compulsory courses and electives are the same, we’ve crossed paths and even worked together on the same group assignments before. He’s a pretty hard worker, pulls his weight in group assignments, and can keep up with me in math and science classes, which is cool. But he’s not really the type of person who would go about wandering into construction sites – especially not with a group of other people… so seeing him here was rather strange.

“Erik?” I called in puzzlement. “What are you doing here?”


	3. The Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: As of Chapter 3, only Casey and his family are my creations. The rest are either from K.A. Applegate, or the other players in this RP. :)

Whatever Erik said, I don’t really remember – if he even said anything – for right at that very moment, EVERYTHING flared an iridescent, electric blue.

“OW!” That wasn’t me, but I definitely echoed the sentiment.

As the flash receded, I watched, stunned, as what could only be described as an honest-to-goodness SPACESHIP gently landed on a small clearing in the middle of the haphazardly strewn concrete. I quickly pinched my arm, which had no effect whatsoever – the sleek ash-grey and blue spacecraft resolutely stayed where it was, and there was no sign that I was otherwise hallucinating.

_The HELL?_

You know, when my parents told me that I would be kidnapped by unsavoury characters if I went off into the construction site by myself, an alien abduction was hardly how I would have pictured it happening.

But there was simply no other way, besides “alien”, to describe the ship, and the being that emerged from its belly. The closest thing I could compare it to would be an utterly ridiculous chimera of several creatures - a centaur - those ornery, stargazing, half-man, half-horse beings straight out of Greek mythology, an oversized snail with two eyes on stalks that constantly scanned the area, and a tail, tipped with a wickedly sharp scythe that would have made any scorpion green with envy.

Did I also add that it was BLUE? Like, the exact same shade of blue as a bluebird?

And that it had NO MOUTH?!

And that it was carrying what were clearly weapons… and pointing them RIGHT AT US?!!

_Right. I’ve been trapped in a dream that I apparently can’t wake up from. And my brain just cooked up some weird, crazy scenario involving a… hybrid monstrosity that’s about to murder us all. Any moment now an unseen DM Is going to ask me to roll for initiative._

Then the creature stared me right in the eyes, and said what were perhaps the most chilling words I’d ever heard up to that moment. 

{{If you know what’s good for you, you will leave. Now.}}

_This thing is capable of telepathy?!_

I quickly retracted all questionable thoughts I had carelessly mused, praying that it hadn’t read my mind and that it really didn’t want to use me as target practice. All this while frantically trying to think back at it - _YES! YES! I’ll leave and never tell anyone what happened here! I didn’t see anything! Just point that gun somewhere else!_

“All votes for leaving?!” the girl suddenly burst out, before grabbing Erik’s hand and taking off at a sprint. I quickly and wordlessly sprang after them, hoping that nothing would start chasing us.

#### BOOM!

It was then that the first explosion rocked the construction site. A fireball materialized from a few metres behind us, very close to where the ship had been. Even with my back facing away from the explosion, I could feel the heat wash against my back - not enough to singe, but definitely enough to make me run faster!

I glanced beside me, and saw only the girl from earlier. Anna, I think her name was.

Where on Earth was Erik?!

Anna spun around frantically, scanning the construction site for him.

{{LEAVE! NOW!}} the voice demanded imperiously.

“I have - I have to find him,” she stammered. “He’s my brother.”

She wrestled internally with indecision, before looking at me once more more. “I’m sorry, I have to - I have to - ” she broke off, running BACK toward the explosion.

 _Damnit, Anna!_ I thought. _We’re ALL supposed to be running AWAY!_

But deep down, I completely understood where Anna was coming from. My brothers and I would have done the same for each other. It was something drilled into us since young - family stands together, and whatever happens, you never leave anyone behind. Family are the people who stand behind you when the world turns against you.

Till today, I still don’t know why I did what I did next. Maybe it just felt like the right thing to do. Maybe Erik was one of the few people I actually liked, as opposed to just tolerated. Maybe Anna’s emotional state moved me. Maybe one of my mum’s lessons about helping others had sunk in deeper than I expected.

_This has got to be the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever done in my life._

I followed Anna back into the heart of the construction site.

\---------------------------

The smell of ozone permeated the air as we ran through the area, searching for the missing Erik. Flash after flash – one sickly yellow, another blood red, the next an electrifying blue – speared through the night sky like high-powered laser beams. To make matters worse, it had started to drizzle lightly, and the wind gusted through the steel frames of the half-completed buildings in fits and starts. It wasn’t chilly just yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that it would soon be. I really, really hoped we could get out of this blasted place before then, otherwise I’d be reduced to shivering my ass off.

During a brief spell where the landscape was illuminated by the demented circus of firing lights and yelling voices, I caught a glimpse of a half-hidden Erik frantically waving his arm at me. The unfinished wall he was hiding behind, while sufficiently large enough to shield him from the ongoing firefight, was certainly isolated and open enough that they would be spotted sooner or later by whoever the scorpion-centaur was shooting at. “Over there!” I pointed out to Anna. “Get over here!” I yelled at Erik as loudly as I dared above the raucous din. “They’re firing in your direction!” 

Right as I said that, another yellow ray lanced straight at the alien. The alien, fast and nimble on his (at least, it sounded male) four hooves, simply leapt out of the way. The beam continued uninterrupted and crashed into the wall Erik was hiding behind. 

#### *BANG!*

***grrrmmrbrrmbmmrrbmmbm….***

Anna and I watched in horror as the beam blew a sizeable chunk out of the wall, revealing the rebar underneath. The impact also sent the top foot of the wall crumbling down on one side, and Erik and the person he was hiding with tumbling to the ground on the other.

“ERIK!”

“I’m okay!” Erik picked himself up and dashed over to us, small scrapes on his forearms, but none the worse for wear. The other guy quickly followed suit, and soon we were gathered as a terrified group of 4, huddling behind yet another unfinished block of concrete wall.

“Are you all right?” I asked the new guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to /u/Shiiang (Anna), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor) and /u/deadbravo (Alazar/Al) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


	4. The Offer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer as usual: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
> 
> <<>> = Thought-speech.

**_*KRRRERRANGGG!!!!*_ **

**_*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…*_ **

My attention was immediately diverted again. Another spaceship, this one with glowing red engines and which resembled a cockroach, had just been sent careering into an idle construction crane. The crane’s towering steel frame groaned threateningly – then snapped! Its upper half tilted and quickly gathered speed, before crashing into the concrete with a loud, echoing clang. A cloud of dust billowed into the air, further restricting our already-low visibility. At the same time, the damaged alien ship blew up from the impact, sending a wave of heat towards us!

_This is crazy! What am I doing? Why am I still here?!_

I had seen far more unbelievably insane nonsense in the last 20 minutes alone than I had in the 19 years of my life thus far. I’d seen a blue scorpion-centaur. I’d seen two alien spaceships – one recently blown out of the sky, and the centaur’s own just calmly parked in the middle of a traceur’s wet dream. I’d seen laser weapons that clearly belonged in the science fiction section of any exhibition.

I was clearly in way, way over my head. We all were! And the guy I was speaking to appeared to have gone temporarily deaf, thanks to the sound of the blast earlier, because he didn’t look like he even heard me.

The numerous warnings I’d received about the construction site – ones that I’d conveniently discarded in my eagerness to get home – had all made their way helter-skelter into my frantic thoughts –

“ _Don’t you ever step foot into the construction site! Only hooligans go there.”_

_“You’ll probably get kidnapped by some strange gang and then sold as a slave to some third-world country.”_

_“I’m not bailing you out if you get mistaken for some kind of criminal and get arrested.”_

_“If you don’t sit down and behave right now, I’m taking you to the construction site and leaving you there!”_

Well, guess they were all correct about how dangerous the site was, because now I was stuck up shit creek desperately trying to find a paddle, as my Australian friend would say.

At this moment, yet another voice suddenly made itself heard in the darkness. (How many people WERE there in this “abandoned” construction site anyway?!) “Hey, what are you waiting for? We need to get out of here. They’ll kill us if we stick around.” I spun around looking for the source of the voice, and instantly had to tilt my head to make eye contact with a tall, burly man - at least a head taller and twice as wide as I was; perhaps two or three years older. He was panting slightly – was this the third guy who was with Erik and Anna earlier? Maybe he ran away and came back when he realized his friends were missing.

Then my eyes slid sideways to the blue-furred, blood-splattered, battle scarred alien that had somehow managed to sneak up behind him, and I involuntarily gasped, taking a step back. The others followed my line of sight and had similar reactions – someone even let out a strangled yelp.

He had destroyed the ship and probably killed several aliens. Was he now coming for us too?!

 _No_ , I realized. _He told us to leave before firing on the rest. He could have killed us when he had the chance, and he didn’t. Even now, he’s not threatening us… at least, I don’t think he is._

_But what does he want with us? Does he want us to help him hide, or something? Are we supposed to spirit him away somewhere?_

<<I told you to leave for your safety, not out of hate.>>

There was his voice in my head again – a voice that had no direction, but which seemed to appear like a thought in my mind. He felt… solemn. Sad, almost. It felt like his “voice” was carrying the weight of whatever world he came from behind it.

<<I am sorry. I–… >>

My confusion only grew. _Sorry for what? For having to land on our planet? For having to defend himself from whoever or whatever was shooting at him?_

<<Your friend is right. If you do not leave, you will be killed. Or worse. My enemy… our enemy… will not hesitate to end you even if they are, in some ways, human. They will not stop until you all are silenced for what you’ve seen tonight.>>

The words were thought with an air of absolute finality, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. As if he had seen it all before. As if we were just the latest bunch of random passers-by who just happened to be caught up in this weird battle of his.

I found myself believing him.

As if to frame the ominous words the alien had just thought, a momentary, eerie hush fell over the area. I tried to rub some heat into my cold, wet arms, shivering slightly as I did so. Over the silence, I could hear the gradual crescendo of police sirens.

<<I want to help you escape this. Please… please accept my help.>>

“Um. I have three questions.” My voice filled the deathly silence which had enveloped us. I whispered as quickly and as quietly as I could, not wanting to draw any attention from whoever else might still be in the immediate vicinity that would want us eliminated. “First – what are you? Second, what on Earth is going on? And third, how are we supposed to get out?”

Yeah, I know. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to ask the first two. But I really wanted to know what the hell was going on, damnit!

“…you want to help us? How?” asked Anna, voice quivering.

<<We haven't much time, but I will explain all that I can. I am an Andalite. My name is Prince Elfangor-Sirinal-Shamtul. I am a warrior and a pilot. I fight the Yeerk Empire, whom my people have fought for a very long time now. The Yeerks are on this planet - Earth - and they plan to slowly, quietly undermine and enslave your species, as they have done many times before. The humans I have just fought were already under total Yeerk control. If any of you are seen well enough to be identified, the Yeerks will stop at nothing to capture and enslave you, too, even if they have to capture or kill everyone you know to do it. Of course, that assumes you can escape this place at all. Simply put, you have seen too much, and that makes you dangerous to the Yeerks.>>

<<It is against the laws of my people to give advanced technologies to lesser developed species,>> he paused, scanning everyone with his stalk eyes. <Certain Andalite technologies would make an individual very hard to spot. It would make them very dangerous, too, if they knew how to use it. No, it would be impossible for an Andalite to give away our technology.>>

<<Of course, if such technologies were _stolen_ … well..,>> he trailed off.

Unfortunately, his explanation, illuminative as it was, threw up way more questions than it provided answers. But I guess this wouldn’t have been the right time to satisfy my curiosity – even though I really just wanted to shake him down and demand he actually EXPLAIN something. Like, how did this war start? What is a Yeerk? What do they look like? Why was humanity targeted? How do they capture and enslave? I couldn’t imagine anyone in this day and age still being a slave – not in the USA, and not on a large scale, anyway. Surely someone would’ve noticed?

Instead, I was faced with the prospect of becoming a criminal in an alien society I’d never even heard of just 20 minutes ago.

Well, I guess stealing technology from a far more advanced alien race definitely sounded like a great way to kick off humanity’s interplanetary relations.

Joy.

_If we ever run into these blue furry horsemen again, we will have a LOT of explaining to do. Assuming they don’t kill us first._

The sirens had gotten a LOT louder over the last few minutes.

_But then again, if he’s right and we don’t get out of here, we’ll probably not survive to meet them anyway._

So instead of the deluge of questions I was prepared to unleash, I went with just one.

“How will this technology help us escape?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N #1: As the only characters I own are Casey and his family, the descriptions of other characters all stem from Casey’s thoughts and are not necessarily how the others view themselves.
> 
> As always, thanks go to /u/Shiiang (Anna), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor) and /u/deadbravo (Alazar/Al, the tall, burly guy) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


	5. The Yeerk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer as usual: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
> 
> <<>> = Thought-speech.

The rain was starting to strengthen again, and the mercury was doggedly working its way south once more. The scent of concrete, rust and sulfur hung heavily in the air despite the fitful gusts of wind, and the pillars reflected the flashing blue and red lights from the police vehicles on the main road outside. The momentary lull in the action inside had taken on another chilling dimension – there were now loud echoes of people running, and harsh voices speaking some guttural, foreign language I had never heard before. There was a definite enemy out there waiting to take us on, and we knew nothing about them – what they looked like, where they were, how many they numbered, whether they were coming for us _RIGHT NOW_ -

You know, looking back, I never really questioned what Prince Al Fangor or whatever his name was said. I don’t quite know why – maybe it was because he hadn’t directly done anything to harm us, or maybe because he exuded this sense of being in control during the entire time. But he seemed like a good guy, and he definitely knew what was going on, so we all listened to him by default. At least, I did. Also, if he really was alien royalty, it would probably be far better to listen to him until we were out of this mess.

Unless, of course, “Prince” was his name and not his title. I mean, who even knows about alien naming conventions? They could regularly name their kids with something traditionally unconventional like… I don’t know. “X Æ A-12”, maybe.

“Okay, Elf - Elfang - El - Ellie. Prince _Ellie_ , where would a thief be looking for this technology?” Anna questioned.

“Is it on your ship?” Erik asked. “And, uh… what does it look like? What does it do? How do we use it?”

“All right, Elfangor, I’ll take your help. But we’re running out of time as it is. Do you have it on you?”

At that last statement, Prince Al immediately pinned his normal eyes on the taller unnamed guy. I wouldn’t have had the first clue how to read alien facial expressions, but “unsettled” was what I would have gone for. Something the guy said also struck me as a little strange. Like there was a degree of familiarity, or of non-surprise, with what Al was saying. But the moment passed, and Al quickly resumed… thinking-speaking?

<<Yes, the technology is in my ship. Those of you who wish to accept my help must get to it as quickly and quietly as possible. In the ship there is a small box, a cube, perhaps as wide as an outspread human hand. It is vibrantly blue in color. You cannot mistake it. Get to it, before the dust settles. If any of you wish to take your own path, now is the time to make your escape, but be warned, it will not be easy - for most of you. You must make your decision now – if you have not already.>>

Well… aliens had invaded, our lives were in danger, the police were about to be involved… there’s no way I would’ve been able to escape. So there was really no other logical choice.

_For “most” of you? I wonder what that means…_

<<The box can give you the ability to temporarily alter the very DNA that your body is made up of. It can allow you to, quite literally, become any species - any animal. By touching a creature, you can absorb a sample of its DNA and call upon it at a later date. When called upon, your body will alter into a perfect DNA copy of the animal in question. We call this _morphing_. The process is grotesque, but painless.>>

_How would this even work? Are there animals in his ship that we could absorb? What happens to the animal afterwards, does it just… cease to exist? Will we become aliens with changed DNA after this?_

There were just… an endless torrent of questions that I had no hope of receiving answers to at that moment.

Becoming a shapeshifter (morpher?) sounded all kinds of cool, though.

…

Elfangor had returned to staring intensely at Mr. Tall Guy.

_Can Tall already morph? Do they know each other somehow? Is that why Al said “most”?_

<<I will tell you more when I can, but you must go now, I will follow right behind. Work together and be quiet! Hawk-badgers have excellent hearing!>>

…

…

…

_Say WHAT?_

Okay. NOW I was completely lost.

My mind was racing, trying to parse the information I had, but that last bit still made absolutely no sense. What the hell was a “hawk-badger”, some other bizarre amalgamation from the same neck of the galaxy as the furry blue scorpion-horse? Were there a set of aliens out there in the greater galaxy that liked to make monsters out of Earth animals?

Were THOSE the Yeerks? And was Al on some sort of rebellion against them? Was he expecting us to fight in HIS war?

But while I was still trying to get my mind around everything that wasn’t making sense, things were already happening. I snapped back to the moment, only to realize that Erik and Anna had already taken off! The guy that was hiding with Erik wasn’t far behind them, leaving me with Al and Tall.

“Come on!” I urgently whispered to Tall, who seemed to be locked in their staring match.

_Right, they DEFINITELY know each other._

When he didn’t move, I gave it up as a bad job and went after the other three.

*~*~*| 5 |*~*~*

The darkness of the construction site made it pretty easy to move around unseen. I hugged the shadows, darting from cover to cover, trying to gain some ground on the three ahead of me. And after a few seconds, I could see their silhouettes ahead – Erik and Anna, hands clasped and together in front; Erik’s partner-in-hiding a few feet behind, and then me yet another few feet behind. We were really close to the ship by now – just one concrete wall separated us from making a straight dash towards its entrance.

That was when a colossal creature rounded the wall, nearly smashing into Anna. It let out a strangely hoarse, rasping sound of surprise, and I very nearly yelled out in shock.

“ _Ghafrash!”_

This… what was this monster?!

It looked like a nightmare from straight out of Jurassic Park! It had Velociraptor feet, arms and legs made for chasing prey down, and a vicious looking beak on top of a corded, serpentine neck. It was at least half again as tall as Anna. Have I also mentioned the BLADES?! Every inch of this museum escapee was covered in razor-sharp death! It had 3 of them for horns, even more running down its forearms, and spurs on its feet – one wrong step and it would julienne the hell out of us!

Glaring down at Anna and Erik, the creature’s sinewy muscles flexed as it reached for what looked like a laser wea– FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, which insane bastard decided that a SWISS ARMY DINOSAUR needed to be armed even FURTHER?!

You know that fight or flight response that humans are supposed to have? In that moment, I discovered that apparently, mine had a third setting – freeze. For that brief period of time, I just simply could not move.

But just as it turned to point its weapon at Anna and Erik, a voice unexpectedly rang out from off to its side. “Hey, you. Forget about these hosts, we’ve still got an Andalite on the loose. I’ll take them down. You need to find that Andalite.”

“My job security, security I must do.”

“Shut up and be quiet, I’m clearly higher up than you, _Hork-Bajir_ , now go find that damn Andalite.”

_The hell? Humans are in league with these monsters?_

_That ambulant blender is called a Hawk-Badger? But it looks nothing like either one of them!_

Yeah, yeah. I know. Nobody ever accused me of having thought processes that were too relevant. One of these days, the inability to prioritize the relevant stuff is going to get me killed.

Anyway, while I was ruminating over what this meant, I missed some of the (what was sure to be) frankly disturbing conversation. I only keyed back in after some further words were exchanged, and the talking dinosaur suddenly turned tail and RAN in the opposite direction.

_Wait, what just happened?_

“Shut up, yes I’m one of them. But if you don’t get that damn device, we’ll all soon be nothing.” It was Mr. Tall, who quickly melted back into the shadows. He was apparently… in league with both the centaur and the Hawk-Badger?

Great. This just kept getting more and more terrifyingly confusing. Whatever. I guess I’d figure it out later… if I survived.

We were supposed to be heading for the ship, right?

Right.

“Come on, guys, let’s hurry!” I hissed. “There’s bound to be more of them coming!”

“How do we get to that ship?” Erik asked.

“I say we make a run for it.” The remaining distance to the ship looked pretty small, and the intensifying downpour would HOPEFULLY hide us from whoever else was hunting us. Getting out of the rain would also be a plus!

“Who wants to go first?”

“I’ll go.” Erik’s friend boldly said. “Stay close, and let’s move.”

What followed was a dead sprint towards the open hatch of the spaceship, with us hoping against hope that we would avoid detection. I couldn’t see very well – not least because wet spectacles just aren’t great for being able to see things – but I could still hear a commotion going on in the background. My heart raced as every splash our shoes made as they hit the floor seemed magnified tenfold, advertising our location to whatever other monsters wanted a piece of us.

Surprisingly, we made it to the ship unscathed! A cursory backward glance at the path we took revealed no following silhouettes, so it seemed that for once tonight, luck was on our side. Not about to tempt fate any further, I joined the others in the ship before I could be seen.

*~*~*| 5 |*~*~*

The interior of the spacecraft was completely unlike what I was expecting. For what I assumed to be a ship made for combat, you would’ve thought I’d see something much more spartan. Bright. Harsh. Angular. Regular. Reminiscent of the straight lines of military discipline and the heavy chains of war and command.

Yet… the place we found ourselves in was the complete antithesis of that.

If I were to use a single word to describe what I saw and what I felt from the ship itself, I would probably use “calm”.

Maybe “tranquil”.

Peaceful.

The hectic nature of the world outside tonight stood in complete contrast to the serenity of the ship – one which we were currently defiling with the rainwater, concrete dust and dirt that we were shedding. The current of gentleness – of warmth – that the ship emanated lingered over our tired minds and bodies, energizing and relaxing us.

Or maybe I was just freezing and was thrilled to be out of the rain.

After a moment for us to catch our collective breaths, Anna suddenly started to giggle, and it soon caught on amongst our dishevelled group. How could it not? How else could we deal with how utterly bizarre our current situation was? A few hours ago, if you’d told me an alien spaceship would be landing in a long-abandoned construction site as part of some intergalactic war, I’d have recommended a weekend getaway at the nearest mental healthcare facility. Maybe longer.

“What a night.”

You could definitely say that again.

“I’m Anna, by the way. This - is my brother, Erik.”

“William,” said Erik’s hiding partner. “My name is William.”

“Casey here.”

“And I’m Al,” said Mr. Tall Double Agent.

_Ah._

_Mr. Double Agent._

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to /u/Shiiang (Anna, who I've just realized is [RequiemForAbsolution](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22113286) here on AO3), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor) and /u/deadbravo (Alazar/Al) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
> 
> A/N #1: <<>> = Thought-speech.
> 
> A/N #2: Personal thoughts are italicized.

_ We need to do SOMETHING about Al. _

"What do you mean you're 'one of them'?! Do you work for the Yeerks?! Are you trying to kill us, you son of a bitch?! Are you even human?! WHAT ARE YOU?! ANSWER ME!" William, in his frustration, picked Al up and bodily flung him into the nearest wall.

…not quite the "something" I would've done. Though I couldn't have done much better - I didn't even have any idea of what to do, honestly.

_ Also, note to self: Holy crap, DON'T piss William off! _

"WHOA, whoa! Let's think about this calmly! Violence isn't going to get us anywhere!" I protested.

Before anyone could reply, Elfangor's thoughts made themselves known once again. <<We are out of time. Visser Five is here. She is a sort of Yeerk War-Prince. What would a human word for that be? General. Yes, general. She is ruthless, and far more dangerous than she may appear. I will buy you all as much time as I can, but I can take you no further in your escape. You must go on without me.>>

The "conversation" from then on turned into an unnerving one-sided, multi-threaded conversation, as Elfangor alternately spoke to us and the Yeerks. The influx of information was confusing – and hopefully the enemy wouldn't be able to hear what Elfangor was telling us! Was this thought thing directional? Was he thinking to us on different frequencies? Despite the immediate danger of the situation, I couldn't help but ponder the usefulness of such biology... or was it technology?

<<Visser Five. Come to take the credit for the work of your Hork-Bajir? How typical of a Yeerk…>>

<<DNA is acquired by touch. Focus is the key! Once DNA is acquired, then focus your mind on the creature you wish to morph, and the process will begin automatically. It will not hurt, but may feel strange.>>

The ship bustled with activity as everyone started searching the area for Elfangor's cube. The tension skyrocketed; this was the calm before the storm, and it was not a question of if, but when, the fighting would begin again in earnest. Elfangor was buying us time - we had to get out of there before then!

<<Is that Sub-Visser 54 I see cowering over there? Hedrick, it's been a long time! Tell me, how did things go on the Taxxon homeworld after we left?>>

<<Never stay in a morph for more than two Earth hours! If you stay too long, you will be trapped in morph forever!>>

There! Erik had found it!

It was a glowing blue cube (Blue again? Eiffel 65 were more correct than they knew), sat on a pedestal that was slightly hidden from view. It was quite small, with faces as large as an open palm. On its surface were strange glyphs – perhaps the written Andalite language? Erik reached out and grabbed it, transfixed. He took a deep breath, then entered a strange sort of trance – his breathing evened out as he absorbed whatever powers the box was giving him. The rest of us crowded in, waiting for our turn.

<<I had heard you preferred to command your troops directly, but even I am surprised that you'd come here to try and kill me yourself. And with a human host no less!>>

_ Host? _

<<Yeerks are parasites, in the literal sense. They burrow into the brain and hijack the neurons, taking complete control of their host body. We call hosts controllers. Unfortunately, it is highly likely that the human or Hork-Bajir element of the controller was taken against their will, but is powerless to stop the Yeerk in their head.>>

When Elfangor thought… thought-spoke? to us, it was with the gentleness of a father to a child, and the patience of a teacher to a student. However, when he spoke to the Yeerks, it was with a well-honed blend of condescension and mockery, every word dripping with overwhelming sarcasm. The difference was astounding and extremely jarring. _He must really hate these Yeerks,_ I realized as Anna took the cube from her brother. _He's fought them for years, and probably even lost close friends in the war._

<<You Yeerks have taken everything from me. My colleagues, the ship that I for so long called home, and even my brother, Aximili - just an _aristh_! He was a CHILD!>>

_ Oh. _

_ Oh no. _

I think I was starting to understand the depth of his hatred, now.

<<You are standing over the top of an entrance to a Yeerk Pool. Yeerks must leave their host every three Earth days to feed in their pools, or face starvation. A scan of your planet from orbit found this to be a likely location for an entrance to one of these pools.>>

I started as Anna offered the cube to me. Holding it gingerly, I imagined the power the cube held flowing into me. I'm not sure what I expected, but when focusing on the cube, I could almost feel the cube pulse against my palms, sending a wave of calm sweeping through my body. It soon ended, which I took to mean that the transfer had completed.

_ Wait,  _ I realized as I parsed what Elfangor had said previously. _What about Al? The real Al? He's trapped in there against his will and this Yeerk, whatever it is, has stolen his body and is masquerading as him?!_

_ Al, or the Yeerk, is on our side, though, _ I thought. _Elfangor let him go._

_ He's a double agent! You just THINK he's on our side! How would you know for sure? _

_ But he distracted that Hork-dino thing for us. _

_ Maybe he distracted the Hork to get the morphing power! What's stopping him from running back to them once he can morph?! _

Worried, I avoided passing the cube to Al, instead choosing to hand it to William. "I'm not so sure if Al should take this," I said aloud. "How do we know you won't run back to the Yeerks and give us all away?"

"Because I'm already dead if I go back there. I'm going to be dead in three days anyway. If they find out who I am, they'll make an example out of me. Besides, you need me. You cannot win this fight alone, none of us can. I'm rebelling."

That… didn't really help. It was all words and no way to show action. Why would he be dead? The Hork-thingy clearly listened to him. Nothing he said made sense, and that made me even more worried about trusting this alien!

"The things I need to win are also the things you need to win. I'll help you, if you help me. It starts with that cube, and a little bit of trust. I've already put a lot of trust with all of you, I only hope you also do for me. My name's Alazar. No bullshit numbers anymore, I'm my own free agent, no longer a numbered slave."

_ Oh, the irony. _

"How are we supposed to trust you? Before today we didn't even know aliens existed. Now we discover that you guys, Yeerks and Andalites and Hork-Bajeezus or whatever exist, and you've taken over some poor guy's body? I don't know what this feud is about or why it started, but you're kind of on the wrong foot if you're taking humans as slaves! Why would you do that if you yourself were one?"

"And you KNEW! You already knew Elfangor, didn't you? You also knew Elfangor was going to offer us the power to morph, didn't you? 'Do you have IT on you'? Were you after the cube this whole time?" I could hear my voice rising – a product of all the stress we'd been through today, no doubt.

"You say we should trust you. How can we trust whatever you're saying now?" I crossed my arms and glared.

_ He's part of the invaders. He's a soldier. No, he's a spy. A double agent. _

_ You don't give power to double agents. _

"I don't like it one bit, either, but Elfangor let him follow us. Maybe he saw something in him that we can't. We don't have time to argue right now, though. I… I say we let him use it and figure out the rest once we're out of here," William pointed out. He glanced over at the siblings. "So what's the verdict? Should we let him use it?"

"I don't think he should use it. Yet. Maybe if he helps us get out of here we can consider it, but based on the noise and flashes outside, I don't think we have much time," Erik replied. "We should probably take that with us." He gestured at the glowing cube.

I was perfectly fine with that. I certainly didn't trust Alazar, and the fact that he had enslaved a fellow human rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't about to let him get the ability to betray all of us without first knowing that he wouldn't, and as it stood, I knew nothing about him.

If Alazar was angered at my suggestion, he certainly made no outward indication of it. I couldn't make head or tail of his expression – it looked like he was internally at war with himself – but there was no protest for the moment.

_ Score one for him, _ I grudgingly conceded, calming down somewhat.

The shouting outside the spacecraft had gotten louder. Whatever Elfangor was doing to buy us time, it certainly wasn't going to last much longer.

"Look, Alazar. We want to trust you, but this has been too much to handle for everyone tonight. You'll have to forgive us for being overly-cautious, especially given the circumstances of your… uh… former employer," William diplomatically pointed out, in a stark reversal of his earlier demeanour. "Help us save Elfangor and get out of here and I'm sure nobody would object to giving you access to the cube… Please… I- I think we do need you. What do you know about this ship? Could-... could you fly it? Would there be weapons on-board that we could use to escape?" It's either that or we just run for it and pray we don't get atomized or infested… no offense…"

Anna, who had been silent for a while now, piped up with an interesting insight. "Your… your host," she began, "He… didn't want this, did he? What does he want now? Because I think… I think he needs to get a vote, too. We can't just - if you want me to trust you, alien punk, then you're gonna have to start telling us what your real-you thinks. If you wanna fight this war, you have to start by freeing the only person you've got a chance of freeing. And I know you can't do that right now, not properly, but all the same - I want to hear what your - your host has to say."

Ah.

I hadn't even considered if Alazar's prisoner could speak to us without being controlled. Yeah, if we could listen to the human, whatever his name was, speak, and he trusted Alazar, that certainly sounded like something, or someone, I could work with. If he was trustworthy, we'd have someone on our side who knew the Yeerks. If he wasn't trustworthy, we'd… well… I don't know, actually. It's not like we could just kill him or something.

A chill ran down my spine.

_ He knows who we are now, and he knows how we look like. If he's on our side, he needs the power. If he's on their side, and he runs back to them, they'll know who we are, whether or not he has the power, and some alien empire with freaking SPACESHIPS is not going to have any problems tracking us down. So we can't piss him off, and there's no way we can avoid letting him use the cube. _

"As for getting out of here… I don't think flying is the best option. We're in suburbia, and I don't know about you guys, but a UFO? Pretty noticeable. By the time we landed we'd be surrounded by conspiracy nuts and journalists wanting our pictures. If any Yoghurts saw us, we'd be dead before dawn. If we're going to do this right, we need to do it sneakily. And that means getting out of here, with the cube, _now_."

And at that point, I heard – or thought-heard – the most terrifying, horrifying, blood-curdling scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to RequiemForAbsolution (Anna), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor) and /u/deadbravo (Alazar/Al) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


	7. The Visser + The Other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
> 
> I don't think tiny chapters of 1k words or less are meaty enough, so from here on out I'll try grouping chapters together more often so they cross at least 2k words. I'll be going back through the first few chapters and might consider merging a few.
> 
> A/N #1: <<>> = Thought-speech.
> 
> A/N #2: _Personal thoughts are italicized_.
> 
> A/N #3: Implied Gore Warning.

_Oh shit. Oh shit. OH SHIT._

That cry was the most chilling thing I had EVER heard – and it meant that Elfangor was losing his fight.

We were out of time.

Against my better judgement, I rushed to the ship’s boarding ramp, alongside William. The rest followed. I think we both – all – wanted to see for ourselves. See what could bring down the regal warrior Elfangor appeared to be. See the enemy we would be fighting.

Peeking into the construction site, we saw Elfangor, standing within a solitary spotlight like a cage fighter. He was staggering, hindlegs buckling, as he desperately tried to snap his tail at his opponent. An opponent who, while injured and bleeding, managed to keep herself underneath his stomach, where his vision was limited and his tail obstructed.

Yes. “Herself”. His attacker was a “she”.

His attacker was **_human_**.

_No! His attacker is **YEERK**! _

The Yeerk, presumably Visser Five, had a blade driven _INTO_ his belly. Dark blue liquid trickled down her twisted face as her gleefully cackling voice pierced the night.

Then, with superhuman strength, she _heaved_ – and something sinuous–

A wave of nausea slammed into me with the force of a tsunami, and before I knew it –

“HURREAGGH!”

My stomach had introduced the remains of my dinner to the once-pristine ship.

What I saw…

I saw…

I… will never forget that sight.

Even if I live to be a hundred.

…

Even if I live _forever_.

I desperately wanted to turn my eyes away – so very badly wanted to ignore this gruesome visage. I wanted to just _pretend –_ pretend that _NONE_ of this was happening –

Yet, I watched.

I watched silently as she crawled out from beneath Elfangor, her limbs streaked with deep blue and crimson red.

I watched helplessly as she took her blade to the base of his tail and began sawing.

I watched, fighting back tears, as… as she wrapped the grisly trophy around her neck, lovingly caressing the gleaming weapon she had wielded in battle.

And I watched as this malevolent monster sat down in front of the defeated Andalite, giggling triumphantly, to watch him die.

I had seen enough.

Time to leave.

\--- --- ---

I think none of us were ready to process what we had just seen. I’m not sure if I even wanted to, because that would mean admitting that… _that_ … had just happened.

My stomach was still churning, and I tried as best as I could to push the queasiness away and refocus on the present.

It wasn’t just me, though. Everyone else was silent, but at that moment, our faces said everything. Even Al, who was one of them, seemed dazed at the barbarity displayed by one of his fellow Yeerks.

That, if anything, actually made me feel like… like maybe he wasn’t all bad. Yes, he was still a slaver. But maybe, just maybe, he meant what he said about rebelling and this could push him even more towards us.

That was a lot of maybes.

Erik was speaking.

“Anyone here know how to fly? I failed my driving test three times, so someone else should do the honours.”

I glanced out once again at the aftermath of the battle.

_Oh god, are giant yellow centipedes clearing- no, EATI-_

_Nope. Not. looking. NOT. LOOKING_ , I chanted to myself as my guts prepared for round two.

“I can fly,” Will stated, voice hard. “But it would take me an-“

**_THHHHWAP_ **

**“ACK!”**

**“OW! FUCK!”**

“What the hell?!”

For a split second, chaos reigned. I watched as the blue cube fell as if in slow motion. It bounced once, twice – and then rolled down the rest of the way, coming to a stop in the no-man’s land between us and a terrifying death.

A feeble squawk sounded from between us, and when we turned to look, we saw a dazed seagull lying in the middle of the ship.

_What the hell is a seagull doing here? And why did it just divebomb Will?_

“Will?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

When there was no reply, I looked up to realize that Will stood frozen in the middle of the ramp – a ramp that placed him in full view of the construction site.

He had been seen.

_Great. This just keeps getting worse!_

William slowly stepped forwards down the ramp. I couldn’t see what kind of monstrosities he was facing, but I was thanking the heavens that it wasn’t me in his position, because he clearly was a lot calmer under pressure than I was!

Then again, I suppose he didn’t have any other choice.

“We need to do something! We can’t just let Will go out there alone! Once they ask him something specific, he’ll be toast!” I hurriedly whispered to the others. “Al, you know some of these guys and what they’re up to, right? Go out there and help him, and I’ll have no problem letting you use the cube afterwards!”

From the inside of the ship, we heard some faint fragments of the ongoing conversation.

“Of _course_ I know what it is! What kind of fool do you take me for?!”

“You’ve got to get it to the Visser right away!”

“Well _duh_!”

…

_Goddamn it, Will._

“I haven’t seen you before… what’s your name!?”

“Uh… Jake.”

“No, not your host’s name, you idiot!”

“AL! Get out there and help him, NOW!” I hissed.

Al, thankfully, still had his wits about him. He squared his shoulders and marched out, projecting the image of a person (Yeerk?) in command.

“ **Aftran 212!** ” he barked. I could hear the undercurrent of practiced rage in his voice. I guess the Yeerk military had their own version of drill sergeants. What I knew of them from movies, anyway.

**“If you fuck up _one more time_ I’ll personally starve you out! Get back in that ship! I want everything lined up and prepared for the Visser and the science teams. _Everything!_ _Together!_ If you drop another little piece…!”**

The transformation was jarring. One moment he was this rather meek character trying to convince us that he was on our side, and the next he turned into the kind of person who would vehemently insist that his grandmother could run faster than you.

In the end, Al resorted to some vaguely threatening comments towards the Yeerk who had accosted Will, which finally got them to back down and shut up. I suppose Yeerk underlings were not that big on the initiative scale, then – act like you know what you’re doing, throw in some sense of self-preservation into the mix, and they’ll obey without asking questions.

On our side, Anna went after the kamikaze seagull, which was now weakly flapping about. After collecting it, we took several steps back, retreating some distance from the entrance of the ship to make absolutely sure that we couldn’t be seen. I racked my brains, wondering what on Earth this new complication was.

_Elfangor gave us the cube. The cube gave us the power to morph. And now some seagull attempts a fly-by robbery of the cube when we’re stuck in the middle of this battlefield?_

_No. There’s no way this is a coincidence. It’s an Andalite. For sure._

Anna had clearly come to the same conclusion.

“And just who the _hell_ are you?” she demanded, withdrawing a knitting needle from her sleeve and jamming it against the seagull’s belly.

\--- --- ---

The seagull desperately struggled, eager to escape being impaled – I’m pretty sure it saw Elfangor’s fate – but her grip on it was far too tight.

“Chill, Anna!” I frantically objected. “We don’t need a repeat performance!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Al and Will return, with Al giving out instructions. “Get to the controls. They’ll be obvious. Get another for weapons systems, we might have to use them… though hopefully not. I’ll make sure no other ‘problems’ come in.” That was certainly a good thing! I was content to listen to him for now – at least he seemed to have a plan for saving our lives.

…yeah. I definitely tasted the irony in that statement.

_Wait. This is an Andalite craft, and another Andalite just entered the picture. Surely we can trust it (for now) to help us get out of this Yeerk territory._

“Look, Andalite, whatever your name is. We need to get out of this place quickly before that madwoman comes back – I’m sure you saw what happened to Elfangor earlier! Are you familiar with this ship? Can you help fly us out of here?” I asked.

“We’re not Yeerks!” William called out from the other end of the ship.

Well, that certainly wasn’t true… but I guess getting out of here immediately was our main concern, and what the Andalite didn’t know wouldn’t hurt it, or us, for now… hopefully.

Without warning, the seagull suddenly started to grow! As what was once a bird suddenly became a writhing lumpy mass – white feathers melting into blue fur, bulging lumps appearing on its head before * _sproinging_ * into those stalk eyes that could see in nearly every direction, hooves bursting out of its chest – I found myself simultaneously fascinated, yet somewhat disgusted, at the impossible sight. _So this is what morphing looks like._

I might or might not have gagged in response.

“Don’t look at it! Take it easy, we don’t need you getting sick again.” Will said, a little abruptly. I guess he was still a bit sore about me stinking up the ship earlier.

“Well, sorry,” I said, a little stung. I mean, it isn’t like I can’t take care of myself. I also don’t generally make a habit of projectile vomiting, it’s just, you know, stress… and that whatever happened earlier caught me completely by surprise…

The Andalite completed un-morphing (de-morphing?), the last vestiges of the seagull beak _schloop_ ing back into its mouthless face. It stood proudly in the middle of the ship, cutting an imposing figure – or it WOULD have, if Anna hadn’t been stunned by the change, forgetting to let go of the seagull she held. Instead, the completely nonplussed centaur found itself within her embrace.

“AAAAHHH!” Anna shrieked, releasing her hold and jumping backwards. The Andalite barely glanced at her, instead addressing the pair trying to figure out the controls.

<<I will help you pilot this vessel away from here if you agree to give me the cube,>> it said imperiously.

Now, I didn’t know about Andalites in general, but this one was certainly far different from the noble warror Elfangor was. It spoke like it expected all of us to bow to its commands, with no possibility of negotiation. And that… rubbed me the wrong way. Coupled together with my previous… indisposition… I wasn’t feeling in any mood to agree with this new alien.

“Well? Yea or Nay?” Will quickly asked.

_What? Are you kidding?!_

_After Elfangor gave it to us?_

_After Elfangor DIED for us?_

_And this new guy thinks he can just waltz in and DEMAND things from us?_

In normal circumstances, in which this was decidedly NOT one, I would’ve just given it back to him. But this was one step too far.

What followed next was a cacophony of noise, as a small argument broke out with Anna and I on one side and Erik on the other.

“You just tried to steal the cube!” Anna protested, and then looked over at Will. “Nay! Way, way nay!”

“If it means we leave right now, then I vote yes,” Erik said, staring at his sister, attempting to communicate nonverbally.

“We were fine until you decided to attack us! Your actions put both Al and Will in danger, and now you think you have the right to order us about? You OWE us!” I glared at the interloper. I glared at the interloper. Trust was a rare commodity in short supply, and I certainly didn’t feel like giving any away tonight. 

Anna took a steadying breath, before addressing us all once more. “Listen to me. All of you. Including you, Bossy Blue. Elfangor said it himself: they could be anywhere. We know they can infest humans. We know they can infest aliens, too. So, Bossy Blue, we have absolutely no reason to trust you. Especially because you tried to steal from us. We don’t know that you’re not flying us right back to your base - whoever your people are. Elfangor said that he was breaking a law, and the Yoghurts want us dead, so either way you could just betray us if you wanted to. You guys, they could be _anyone_. So we can’t trust anyone. Especially not someone trying to take our one and only weapon from us before we’ve even used it. Someone who might have been able to save Elfangor from being murdered. _We can’t trust him_.”

No disagreement from me there.

Anna and I backed over to the controls while keeping an eye out for the new Andalite. Anna started whispering in quiet tones to Al, while I stood ready to help out with piloting the craft if Al needed it. No, I didn’t trust him either. I didn’t, and probably couldn’t trust ANYONE. But as of right now, I trusted him a great deal MORE than the overbearing blue horse.

“I’m sure we can come to some agreement. But please! Help us! We’re desperate! The Yeerks will kill us if we don’t leave now!” pleaded Will.

And as if to highlight the urgency of the situation, we heard hammering on the hull of the ship and the sounds of firing weapons.

Our time was up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to [RequiemForAbsolution](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22113286) (Anna), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor), /u/deadbravo (Alazar), and /u/apostolicnerd (Zed, the 2nd Andalite) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


	8. Chapter 9 - The Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
> 
> A/N #1: <<>> = Thought-speech.
> 
> A/N #2: Personal thoughts are italicized.

_***BAM BAM BAM!*** _

_***TSEEEEEEWWW! TSEEEEEEWWWWW!*** _

<<Structural Damage,>> reported the ship. <<Rear Fuselage Compromised. Evasive maneuvers recommended.>>

It was now or never.

<<"TAKE OFF!">> someone screamed. Probably the Andalite.

<<Confirmed.>>

_***SCHOOOOOMMMMMM!*** _

The ship charged upwards with insane speed!

You know the Mustang that goes from zero to sixty in 2 seconds? Well, this one did about zero to a few hundred in about half the time. The g-forces took us by surprise, and all of us took a tumble - all of us, that was, except the Andalite, who was clearly prepared for whatever had just happened.

_***THUD***_. Pain lanced through my head as I landed on my side, neck whiplashing, head contacting the smooth, cold floor of the ship. That was definitely going to leave a sizeable bruise, and I could already feel a whanging headache coming on. "Ow…" I winced as I massaged the side of my head, belatedly recalling my parents' admonition to never stand with my weight on one leg.

<<Warning! Power Level Critical! Automatic shut-down in – three – minutes>> warned the computer.

As we struggled to our feet, a little battered after the shock of the sudden acceleration, we heard the Andalite give another command.

<<Engage.>>

_***WOOOOSHHHH!*** _

"HELP!"

"AAAAHHH!"

This time, the spacecraft raced forwards, knocking everyone off their feet. We were sent hurtling toward the rear, desperately reaching for anything that was bolted down on this godforsaken carnival ride. I instinctively curled myself into a ball and covered my head, trying to minimize the damage – my shoulder slammed into something hard, and a new agony blossomed right above my triceps.

The ship itself was not in the best of conditions, having previously been in battle, then fired at while in the construction site. As we sped through the sky, the ship shuddered and started to fail, while its computerized thought-voice spewed a veritable litany of malfunctions and errors at us.

_*BOOM!*_

<<Engine Spar compromised.>>

*WOOPWOOPWOOPWOOP*

<<Engine fire detected.>>

The lights flickered and died.

<<Excessive Power Draw.>>

*SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH*

<<Fire Suppression Failed.>>

"GET ME OFF THIS THING!" I heard Will yell.

And as if in response, the ship gave a final lurch, before its remaining engine died, and I felt an unwelcome sense of weightlessness. A glance through the porthole revealed a sea of trees spiralling up to meet us.

_ShitshitSHITSHITSHIT…_

*CRASH!*

***~*~*| 9 |*~*~***

The first thing I heard upon regaining consciousness was the Andalite's thought-speech.

<<…will be here any minute…>>

<<… try disappearing into the woods…>>

I tried to focus on the words, but concentrating seemed to be more than just a little difficult right at that moment. My head and ears were ringing, and I had what felt like jackhammers pounding away at my skull from within. I could smell something metallic, something burning… I found my glasses nearby and quickly put them back on.

<<…given the ability to morph… DNA… >>

My vision wavered as I looked up, trying to locate everyone else.

<<…need a new morph.>>

There! I saw what looked like two Als and a really muscular Erik with a chest the size of a tree trunk.

_Wait, what?_

I got up and ungainly staggered over to them.

"…know where we landed?"

"Forest, farms… run."

"Help… think I'm broken," came a third voice.

"Anna! Casey! Get over here!", Al urged.

" M'coming!" I replied. "Wazgonon?"

_Hold on… that didn't come out right…_ I realized belatedly. The headache wasn't diminishing, and I was nowhere near clear-headed enough to be properly functional.

_What did Al want again?_

I then discovered Anna, passed out and face down on the floor, the glowing cube lying next to her wrist. Her breaths sounded shallow – but thankfully, she was breathing.

"Anna?" I asked, prodding her shoulder, before shaking her gently.

"Unnnnh…" she moaned in response, stirring just a little.

"Anna, wakeup… we needa get outfhere fast!"

She was bleeding from a small cut on her forehead, the blood running nearly into her eyes. I clumsily tried wiping the blood off, but the moment I brushed her face, she started, sat upright and punched me square in the jaw with more strength than I would have expected.

"AAAAH! That hurt!" I complained. "Whazzat for?!"

Anna looked confused for a moment, before wincing at what she'd accidentally done. "I - I'm sorry…"

She glanced around, picked up the cube that was lying nearby, and then stared at something behind me. I followed her gaze, just in time to see Will… morphing?

It seems pretty different from when the Andalite did it. I suppose that's because he was going from human to human, so no extra limbs would have appeared anyway, but this morphing process seemed a lot more understated than previously. Will's body stretched upwards; his frame rippled and slimmed down and his cheekbones reshaped themselves. His hair lengthened. His clothes no longer fit him properly – because he was no longer Will.

He had transformed into Al.

There was one other thing that, even in my confused state, I noticed – some of the wounds that were visible on Will previously had closed up and disappeared. A limb that for sure appeared broken was suddenly working again.

_Huh. Good to know morphing repairs injuries. That seems pretty helpful._

"Woah…" Will-Al marveled. "That's not my voice… hello...helloooo."

He even sounded exactly like Al. Now that… that was freaky.

"Thank you. You saved my life."

From beside me, Anna spoke up. "I don't… I don't know what's going on. Or where we are. But the sooner… the s-sooner we can g-get out of here… they're… looking for us. We need to decide where to go… and how to get there."

As she spoke, I unconsciously rubbed my hands together for warmth. It was rather late, and being where we were, away from buildings and civilization, just meant the surroundings were that much chillier. It wasn't raining, at least, but we were still wet, and I was shivering too. Soaked tee-shirts and cargo shorts weren't great for conserving body heat.

Speaking of where we were… where WERE we? We couldn't have gone very far… but "not very far" is hardly a good navigational instruction.

I saw trees. I saw stars. And back where the ship had crashed, there was a trail of exposed roots and furrows left in the ground that would definitely have been visible from the sky. And… I was still blank on what we could do to escape.

I was blanking on pretty much everything. The headache wasn't going away. I'd never faced a situation in which I couldn't think my way out before, and I'm not going to lie – it was pretty worrying.

"West will get us closer to the coast… something there. Find whatever… useful and let's get out of here, fast!' Will said. "Can everyone walk? Or run, for that matter?"

"Get everything you can, keep the cube safe, get more shredder cells… everything you can carry and still run with." The real Al took a deep breath, then continued. "Then we go north, the search party is going to be searching the forest the first… troops. The suburbs are largely safe, but… risk. We go north, still between the forest and the farms, we'd be getting away from… search parties." He took a few steps towards the remains of the ship. "Hurry up, I'll destroy what's left."

Yeah, pretty sure there was still some stuff my brain wasn't catching.

So as Al started to mess with whatever controls on the ship that were still operational, the rest of us were left trying to decide what to do. Will was preoccupied with examining Al's body, probably still taken by the idea of being somebody else (I know I would have). Erik was going around doing who-knows-what, and Anna and I were left in the clearing to… just figure out our next steps, I suppose.

"I don't think ssshould st…split," I pointed out, hoping that the rest could hear me. "Stick together. The woods… sk…stretch quite… quite far. Going further means… means we're more likely t'gets lot. Loss. Lost."

Okay. On second thought, I didn't want everyone to have heard me. I sounded like an idiot! The whole time, it felt like I was fighting my tongue, not being able to force it to make the right sounds without a monumental effort. The nagging feeling that something was wrong mounted under the unrelenting migraine.

_Wait. Morphing gets rid of injuries, right? Will it get rid of whatever this is, too?_

_Surely it's worth a try._

"Let's ket clo… closer to Will," I muttered to Anna. As Will was the only person at this point who had any morphing experience at all, maybe he would be able to help guide me through the process.

Will looked up at us, face slowly melting back into his own, as we skirted around the remaining debris and slowly approached him.

"Hey, Will, do mind if I mor… morph you? Seems to heal injuries. I have this… this really terrible headache, and can't… can't think straight. Morphing might help. I hope."

Will stared at me for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Can't think straight? Come here." He grabbed my shoulder and held up a finger in front of my face. "Try to follow the tip of my finger with your eyes."

It was surprisingly hard. The finger, despite how close it was, went in and out of focus, at times leaving my field of vision entirely. That once again confirmed something was wrong. This time, the word was on the tip of my tongue, but I probably couldn't remember what it was to save my life.

"I think you're concussed. You should definitely morph."

Ah, right. A concussion would explain it. Probably.

_What did the Andalite say about morphing, again?_

I think the concussion might've knocked that right out of my mind, too. Or perhaps some of the mental trauma I probably had from earlier might have done it. Either way, I was left staring at Will like an idiot. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

"Everything's set. We need to go, now!" Al had finished sabotaging whatever he could and began running ahead.

"Shit!" Will suddenly exhaled as he spun around, looking for something (or someone?), before turning back to face us. "Oh...uh...okay, grab my hand and follow me, we need to move first…." He grasped my hand and started to run, dragging me forwards. Anna was presumably following along behind. I wouldn't have known, though, because at that point I was busy trying to make sure I didn't lose my footing and injure something else.

The ground whizzed by at what seemed like a breakneck pace to my sluggish mind.

_Root!_

_Tree trunk!_

_Stump! Roots!_

_RocksLeavesRootVineBranchesLeavesRootsTree…!_

"Aaaah!" I yelled in frustration, as I received a faceful of leaves. Tonight didn't seem to be my night at all! Every few steps, I tripped over invisible objects; my arms and legs began to sting as various cuts and bruises made themselves known. I only managed to keep going because Will adamantly refused to let go. It was a relief when we finally entered a small clearing and stopped for a rest, probably a few hundred feet or so away from the ship.

"Okay, Casey, we need to make this quick, okay?" said Will, catching his breath. "Hold onto my hand and try to focus your mind on me. I- I think… Just look at me and make a mental note of what I look like, of my features."

_Right. Will is pretty tall. He has a few inches on me. Brown hair. Weird moustache. Average build – not at lean as I am. Kinda pale. Looks like he could have been a runner once. I like running. Running is fun. Running in the forest sucks, though. I couldn't see where I was going._

_Wait, what?_

_Concentrate!_

I focused as best as I could on the man before me, trying to absorb whatever it was that would allow me to look like him.

"I don't know when or how long getting a pattern takes, but just focus your mind and-..."

Will suddenly fell silent. I'm not sure why, but whatever I did was working, I suppose?

_But how am I supposed to know when it's done?_

"Whathuh hell didyoudo?" Will mumbled, swaying a little and sounding a little drunk. Well, I suppose that was as good a sign as any!

I changed my focus – this time, I thought of being Will. I tried to picture him in my mind, and thought about being taller, about being a little broader about the shoulders, slightly more filled out than the lanky Al… and as the images went through my head, I could actually _feel_ my body slowly taking on Will's physique. My arm and leg bones grinded as they gradually elongated; the muscles pulled and stretched as they were forced apart. It was an utterly bizarre feeling. Despite all the impossible physiological changes, with tendons, ligaments and skin being strained and twisted, it was surprisingly painless. It was, you know, sort of like being at the dentist for wisdom teeth removal when you're on anaesthesia. You can feel the dentist digging around in your mouth, and you KNOW it should hurt, but it just doesn't.

As the changes happened, I could also feel the fog that had been hanging over my every thought receding, and the pounding headache that had plagued me since we were on the ship was starting to lift. My memory of the last few hours had also come back. My mind was returning to normal! That was something for which I was VERY grateful. That being said, of course, the true test would be whether the changes would persist once I went back to being myself.

Along with the returning mental capacity, my brain immediately started throwing plenty of questions at me in an effort to better understand how the morphing technology worked. There were certain interesting questions that I shelved for the moment, resolving to take a closer look at them later – maybe with whoever else was interested in testing out morphing, but I wouldn't mind doing it alone too!

"Okay," I said, trying out Will's voice, as the changes came to an end. "I think I'm done." And just as the morphing process itself was strange, so was hearing myself speak with someone else's voice.

The words startled Will, who had momentarily entered some sort of trance when the process began. "What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed, then looked up at me. His eyes widened in shock as he came face to face with himself.

"GAH! Ohhh, now I don't like that one bit," he murmured under his breath. I could empathize – it would be weird staring at someone who was a carbon copy of me!

"We need to move! They're going to be close!" Al cautioned. "Oh, and cover your ears."

_**BOOOOMMMMMM!** _

No sooner had we done so than an explosion rocked the earth. The spaceship was definitely gone – vaporized in a rising ball of amber flames that heatblasted us all. It was surely a clear beacon to any Yeerks nearby and getting away from the scene of the crime was now more urgent than ever.

Focusing, I summoned a mental image of my original body – I would much rather be myself than continue being Will, and my clothes now didn't quite fit anyway, as Will was larger than I was. This time, I felt the changes happening in reverse. I was shrinking, now, instead of growing, and my bones shifted about, as if to get more comfortable within the body it was wearing.

Something was a little strange, though. I had some problems with vision earlier, but that was because of the concussion, right? I didn't feel the mental haze returning as I demorphed, but my eyesight didn't seem to be getting any better…?

I squinted and rubbed my eyes. Nope, my vision was still blurred.

Maybe it was my glasses?

I took them off for some hurried cleaning as I gazed at the orange flam–

_Wait._

_Wait._

The flames were _sharp_.

I could actually see each individual tongue of flame as they danced and leapt about.

I could see them **clearly** – _**without glasses**_!

Could it be?!

The morphing – yes! It was definitely possible – if this technology was based on DNA and could heal injuries, then after morphing back, my DNA would only code for a predisposition towards myopia, but not the myopia itself!

_OK, Casey. Think about the implications of this later. Get out of here FIRST._

I hitched up my shorts, which were now a little too loose after taking on Will's larger frame. I pocketed my glasses – I didn't need them at the moment, but would definitely need to keep wearing them once tonight was over. Looking around, I saw that Will was following the quickly disappearing Erik, while Anna was gazing back at where the ship had crash landed.

"Let's move!" I urged Anna. "The Yeerks will be here any minute!" With one hand holding Anna's and the other on my shorts, we made our way out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks go to [RequiemForAbsolution](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22113286) (Anna), /u/mrmrspears (Erik), /u/tman008 (William and Elfangor), /u/deadbravo (Alazar), and /u/apostolicnerd (Zed, the 2nd Andalite) for allowing me to use their words my retelling of the story.


End file.
